6 . Your co-workers won ’ t end meetings on time ? This is an exasperating problem . You ’ re supposed to be someplace else , but you ’ re trapped in a meeting that ’ s going long . Sometimes , this is inevitable , but if you find it happening over and over , identify the problem . Is too little time allotted to meetings that deserve more time ? Is the weekly staff meeting 60 minutes of work crammed into 20 minutes ? If you face this issue repeatedly , there ’ s probably an identifiable problem — and once you identify it , you can develop strategies to solve it — e . g ., sticking to an agenda ; circulating information by email ; not permitting discussions about contentious philosophical questions not relevant to the tasks at hand , etc . ( This last problem is surprisingly widespread , in my experience .)
7 . You haven ' t considered how your behavior affects someone else ? A friend was chronically late dropping off her son at sports activities until he said , “ You ’ re always late dropping me off because it doesn ’ t affect you , but you ’ re always on time to pick me up , because you ’ d be embarrassed to be the last parent at pickup .” She was never late again .
8 . You hate your destination so much you want to postpone showing up for as long as possible ? If you dread going to work that much , or you hate school so deeply , or wherever your destination might be , you ’ re giving yourself a clear signal that you need think about making a change in your life . Late or not , if you find yourself rushing around every morning , consider waking up earlier ( see no . 1 above ). Yes , it ’ s tough to give up those last precious moments of sleep , and it ’ s even tougher to go to bed earlier and cut into what , for many people , is their leisure time . But it helps . I get up at 6 a . m . so I have an hour to myself before I have to wrestle everyone out of bed . This has made a huge improvement in our mornings . Because I ’ m organized and ready by 7 a . m ., I can be focused on getting all of us out the door .
Gretchen Rubin
Gretchen Rubin is one of today ’ s most influential and thoughtprovoking observers of happiness and human nature . She ’ s known for her ability to distill and convey complex ideas with humor and clarity , in a way that ’ s accessible to a wide audience . She ’ s the author of many books , including the blockbuster New York Times best-sellers The Four Tendencies , Better Than Before , and The Happiness Project . She has an enormous readership , both in print and online , and her books have sold almost three million copies worldwide , in more than 30 languages . ( The Happiness Project spent two years on the best-seller list .) On her top-ranking , award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin , she discusses happiness and good habits with her sister Elizabeth Craft . She ’ s been interviewed by Oprah , eaten dinner with Daniel Kahneman , walked arm-in-arm with the Dalai Lama , had her work written up in a medical journal and been an answer on the game show Jeopardy ! Gretchen Rubin started her career in law and was clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O ’ Connor when she realized she wanted to be a writer . Raised in Kansas City , she lives in New York City with her husband ; they have two daughters ( a college freshman and a seventh-grader ).
GretchenRubin . com
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